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“Fifty years ago a girl disappeared from her home in Norway. She ran after a lamb and found herself travelling right across Europe to Palestine, and back through 2000 years to meet the Holy Family in Bethlehem. There she met angels, shepherds, wise men and other biblical characters who joined her on her pilgrimage; and she heard of many of the things that happened in the world in the last 2000 years.

In present-day Norway, a boy acquires a strange old Advent calendar. Hidden in each of the windows is a tiny piece of paper. Little by little these pieces unfold the girl’s story and as we learn what happened to her, another story is revealed – that of the strange old man who made the calendar.”

“A young girl has been murdered, her body displayed on the front lawn of her university campus. The killing is vicious – and terrifyingly familiar. Someone is copying the methods of one of the country’s most infamous serial killers: Dean’s father.
Back at the Naturals HQ, Cassie, Dean, Michael, Lia and Sloane are dealing with a new FBI agent – and Agent Sterling is determined to keep them out of trouble. But Dean knows too much about his father’s crimes not to get involved, and his fellow Naturals won’t let him face this alone.
But as the bodies mount up, the Naturals find themselves in a deadly dangerous race against time…”

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Since reading the first book in this series earlier on this year I have been desperate to get my bookworm-mitts on this book. I bought it a couple of days after the release date and bumped it up to the top of my tbr pile as I simply could not wait. Boy am I glad I didn’t! It was an incredible read, the first book was excellent but this was even better. Barnes’ writing is so easy to read and she introduces the case straight away; there’s no messing around!

This is going to be flying-visit-review I’m afraid. I’m strapped for time but I really want to post my review about this book.

Love, Rosie.

By Cecelia Ahern.

Pages: 558.

Rating: 4.5 /5.

From the back cover:

“Best friends since forever, Rosie and Alex have shared their hopes, dreams – and firsts. But one awkward moment at eighteen, one missed opportunity, and life sends them hurtling in different directions. Although they stay in touch, misunderstandings, circumstances and sheer bad luck seem to be conspiring to keep them apart. Can they gamble everything – even their friendship – on true love?”

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From the first page I was sucked into the story of Rosie and Alex, from their first letters to one another as children, to their not-so-private instant messages at secondary school and their emails to one another from opposite sides of the globe. For Rosie and Alex there is obstacle after obstacle which prevents them from being together, as the reader I found myself shouting (in my head, I’m not a total crazy person) at them to just confess their love for one another already. It was frustrating, heart-wrenching and so moving; I couldn’t put it down.

These are the questions Nick Dunne finds himself asking on the morning of his fifth wedding anniversary, when his wife Amy suddenly disappears. The police suspect Nick. Amy’s friends reveal that she was afraid of him, that she kept secrets from him. He swears it isn’t true. A police examination of his computer shows strange searches. He says they weren’t made by him. And then there are the persistent calls on his mobile phone. So what really did happen to Nick’s beautiful wife?

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I am not going to do a brief summary of Gone Girl as I do not think that I could without giving away some spoilers or at least clues to possible spoilers.

“Intelligence. Integrity. Courage. Wisdom. These are the qualities a Receiver of Memory must have. And one more can only be named, but not described. The Capacity to See Beyond.

Jonas lives safely within the community, a place where there is no war, no hunger and no pain. But when he is selected as the Receiver of Memory, he starts to discover dark secrets that lie beneath the surface of his perfect world. Secrets that will lead him to undertake an incredible journey…”

A short synopsis:

Jonas is an Eleven fast-approaching the ceremony day in December when he will become a Twelve and when he will receive his Assignment. Jonas is not sure what Assignment he will be given nor which he would like. One thing is for certain and that is that Receiver of Memory was not an Assignment that crossed his mind, nor that of his parents.

“When Sophie Ballester and her twin brothers Sam and Todd are uprooted from their home and sent to a remote boarding school run by their Great Aunt Ness, they stumble upon a hidden room that holds a secret—a secret that will change everything. The people of Phoenix Holt are not what they seem. In fact, nothing is.”

A brief summary:

New to Phoenix Holt, Sophie and her older brothers Sam and Todd have more than a strange place to adapt to. They have acquired a relative whom they did not know existed, their Great Aunt Ness, and a secret family legacy; they are witches. This lack of knowledge about their magical heritage leads to trouble. By mixing potions, unsupervised, in Aunt Ness’ apothecary, the Ballester siblings attract the unwanted attention of Devillions; the demon monsters which track witches to consume their essence and thus their power.

“The Works 3 really does include a poet a week – that’s 52 poets and 364 of the best poems of all time. It provides a fantastic variety of forms and styles and all manner of subject matter.

There are ballads, riddles, tongue-twisters, sonnets, shape poems, raps, narrative verses and haikus; it contains poems about seasons, festivals, animals, birds, love, war, life and death, food, fish and football, to name quite a few. And there is a biography of each poet at the beginning of his or her week.

It is another essential book for teachers, but also a joyful celebration of poets and poetry, which readers will return to again and again.”

“How about making a bargain with me?” said the demon. “I’ll break your spell if you agree to break this contract I’m under.”

In the land of Ingary, where seven-league books and cloaks of invisibility really exist. Sophie Hatter attracts the unwelcome attention of the Witch of the Waste, who puts a curse on her. Determined to make the best of things, Sophie travels to the one place where she might get help – the moving castle which hovers on the nearby hills.

But the castle belongs to the dreaded Wizard Howl whose appetite, they say, is satisfied only by the hearts of young girls…”

A short synopsis:

Whilst working in her family’s hat shop Sophie comes face to face with the Witch of the Waste. The witch curses Sophie, aging her rapidly so that she is an old woman, as she wrongly believes that Sophie has gotten in the way of something that she wants. Embarrassed Sophie leaves her home and heads to the one person who she believes capable of helping her; Wizard Howl. Howl has a reputation for consuming the hearts of young girls, Sophie is glad that she is now old.

“It was Sloane who yanked Emily out of her shell and made life 100% interesting. But right before what should have been the most epic summer, Sloane just…disappears. All she leaves behind is a to-do list. On it, thirteen Sloane-inspired tasks that Emily would normally never try. But what if they could bring her best friend back?

Emily now has this unexpected summer, and the help of Frank Porter (totally unexpected), to check things off Sloane’s list. Who knows what she’ll find?

“Without this child, we shall all die.” Lyra Belacqua and her animal daemon live half-wild and carefree among scholars of Jordan College, Oxford. The destiny that awaits her will take her to the frozen lands of the Arctic, where witch-clans reign and ice-bears fight. Her extraordinary journey will have immeasurable consequences far beyond her own world…”